Balloon Release Ceremony at The Children’s Advocacy Center on Friday

In recognition of April being Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month, the Children’s Advocacy Center of Paris is inviting the public to attend their Hope Floats Balloon Release Ceremony honoring the child victims of crime who received services in 2013.

This special balloon release ceremony will be at The Children’s Advocacy Center of Paris, 711 Pine Bluff on Friday, April 25th at 10:30am. The CAC will be open for tours and will offer light refreshments. Please make use of the back lot for additional parking (entrance is on Cherry St.).

The Children’s Advocacy Center of Paris operates on the fundamental belief that protecting our children requires us to make our system work at their level. The Center is a place where children can feel safe and protected as they go through the difficult process of describing what happened to them. These children travel to fewer investigative agencies, go through fewer interviews, and wait less time for critical services such as counseling and medical exams.

A multi-disciplinary team (MDT) is in place at the Children’s Advocacy Center. This team consists of representatives from the Police Department, Sheriff’s Department, County/District Attorney’s Office, Child Protective Services, local counselors and sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE nurses). By having all the necessary professionals gathered at the Center when a child must be interviewed, we strive to minimize the number of times the child must talk about the abuse. Team members collaborate on the case and all decisions are made in the best interest of the child victims. Reducing the number of times the child victim is forced to tell their story of abuse reduces the amount of trauma and re-victimization

CAC of Paris is a non-profit organization, and we look to our community to help us to be able to continue to serve children of this horrific abuse. A child who has been abused is changed forever. The experience can’t be undone. Our community is working together with the CAC to lessen a child’s pain, anger, fear and confusion of the investigation and prosecution of his or her abuser. We are changing what happens next.suffered by these children.

To learn more about the CAC programs and services or to become a volunteer or donor, contact Rebecca Peevy, Executive Director, at 903-784-5787.